It was as his brother said. When Chi-Woo went to the city's center, he saw a conspicuous tall building. The inside was vibrant and loud, as expected of a well-established holy city. Chi-Woo looked around for a while and climbed the stairs. When he reached the top floor, he saw guards who looked to be members of the league; they seemed to have been notified beforehand and opened the door for Chi-Woo unprompted.
Chi-Woo walked across the corridors and reached for a large door. Before he even knocked, the door slid open.
“Come in.”
“Whoah.” As soon as Chi-Woo stepped inside, he couldn’t hide his awe. Even from an earthling’s point-of-view, the room looked like a gorgeous and cool antique room. Marbles all across the floor glimmered with gloss, and each of the windows where bright sunlight shone through was framed by luxurious red curtains. Sitting in a well-crafted chair, Chi-Hyun looked like a grand duke with enormous power.
“What? What’s this outlandish room?”
“It’s an office the Cassiubia League offered me.”
“Is this your house?”
“As if. I wouldn’t live in an embassy unless I want to die under a mountain pile of documents.”
“Then?”
“I have a separate house. They built an overbearing residence at the center of the city as a gift for me,” Chi-Hyun said and grumbled that they had put too much unnecessary care into that house as well; Chi-Woo looked at Chi-Hyun with envy.
“There’s so much difference between you and me. All I got was an inn room shared by four people.”
“Of course, we are playing in different leagues.” Chi-Hyun snorted while reading his documents.
Chi-Woo asked, “Why just an inn room for four people?”
“What about it?” Chi-Hyun asked.
“I mean, aren’t you the one who decided on the housing assignment system?”
“Data and statistics don’t lie,” Chi-Hyun said as he got up from his chair. “Based on how high a hero raised their ranks, you can measure how much work they have done…” Chi-Hyun trailed off because Chi-Woo was pointing at himself with his index finger.
“…Though of course, there are exceptions.”
“Yes, there could be people like me.”
“No, that can’t be,” Chi-Hyun shook his head. “No other hero can be like you.” Chi-Woo was certainly a very unusual and rare case. If there were more people like his brother, Chi-Hyun would have put in more thought before establishing his system.
“I’m sure you would think it’s unfair on your end.” Chi-Hyun also knew how his brother was feeling, but by establishing an assignment system based on ranks, he quelled all complaints and concerns. Should Chi-Hyun give exceptions to some, people were bound to complain. If Chi-Woo’s reputation and fame had exceeded Ru Amuh’s, people might have understood; however, Chi-Woo kept a disproportionately low profile despite his achievements. Only those who knew him knew what he had done.
They understood that Chi-Woo didn’t go around blabbering about his accomplishments because he wanted to keep his privacy; however, his obscurity backfired on him in cases like this. At the end of the day, Chi-Woo’s current situation better fit his personality, and Chi-Hyun believed it was better for his brother to hide his identity and avoid garnering suspicions at the moment.
“But if it’s you, can’t you raise your ranks easily?” Chi-Hyun tilted his head. “There’s no way you have no merits. Besides, you went on an expedition only recently.”
“That’s true.”
“It should be enough for you to rank up several times. It’ll take time since there are promotion tests to go through, but you’ll probably reach gold rank easily.”
“…”
“If La Bella helps you out a bit…you can realistically look into platinum rank too,” Chi-Hyun said. From somewhere, a goddess nodded in agreement. It was as Chi-Hyun said. Chi-Woo had earned an astoundingly great number of merits through the previous expedition. In fact, he now had way over one million merits in total. He would have plenty left even if he rose to gold rank.
“It’s not too late. If you want, you can receive treatment beyond Ru Amuh’s this instant by registering your rank again.”
Yet Chi-Woo didn’t do that. “Um…I also thought about that, but…”
“Yes?”
“No matter how much I think about it, it seems like a waste.”
“How so?”
“Well, you know when I raise my ranks…while it gives birth to new abilities or improves them, my physical stats would go up unconditionally at that moment.”
“…Are you still going on about that?” Chi-Hyun sighed. The surprising thing about the growth system was that it unconditionally raised the user’s physical abilities by one rank. Thus, Chi-Woo was basically saying that he was going to train as much as he could to limit any losses in potential. After all, if he used the growth system after reaching rank B, he would be able to receive two times the gains than when using the growth system at rank D. Chi-Hyun was aware of this, but what Chi-Woo was suggesting was practically impossible. In the first place, it was a very difficult and tiring process for a being to reach their species’ full potential. Furthermore, the being behind this growth system was no fool; there were restrictions in place in case heroes out of the standard appeared, and there was a reason why ranks were divided into three stages starting from rank B.
Nevertheless, Chi-Woo shouted with his fist in the air, “The one who persists wins!”
“But there should be a moderation to things.” Chi-Hyun sighed.
“It’s a system created to help its users become stronger as fast as possible. Why do you insist on going that route when other heroes are desperate to use it?” As Chi-Hyun said, even Ru Amuh was using the growth system properly to progress faster.
“How long are you going to live as Iron IV? You are human. Even if you raise your physical abilities with training, you can only reach rank C, and to go beyond that, you will have to borrow the growth system’s power.”
“But I was told I’m no longer human. I also heard that it was worth it for me to try going beyond rank C with only training.”
“…Who told you that?” Chi-Hyun frowned.
[You must never say it’s me.]
For some reason, Mimi quickly warned Chi-Woo. Chi-Woo feigned ignorance, and Chi-Hyun pressed his palm against his forehead.
“Anyways, if that’s what you believe, I won’t force you to do anything right now. But you must take responsibility for your decisions.” In other words, Chi-Hyun was telling Chi-Woo to put up with worse treatment if he made decisions that deterred him from getting better ones.
“Since you said you wanted to change, I suppose it won’t be bad for you to start learning from the ground up. Do as you wish.” Chi-Hyun turned back to his documents. His response discouraged Chi-Woo.
“I feel like I just wasted your time.”
“No, I knew you were going to visit me at least once.”
“?”
“You remember the assignment I gave you, right?”
Chi-Woo rolled his eyes. Chi-Hyun had given him the task of securing a place and establishing himself in the holy city, Shalyh, without getting out.
“I’m telling you this now because it seems like you’re going to come see me again, but if you want to object to any part of the assignment I gave you, improve at least one of your current conditions relating to the task before doing so.”
“What do you mean by improving at least one condition?”
“There’s no point in me giving you an assignment if I guide you every step of the way.”
“But why is the very first assignment so difficult?”
“How is it hard? I gave you one so easy that you can complete it while doing nothing but sitting down since it is your first assignment.”
“Doing nothing but sitting down?”
“Yes. This is just your first night. Your conditions are all favorable, so just wait for a couple more days,” Chi-Hyun said and then added just to be sure, “Of course, your environment would change depending on your choice. I hope you aren’t thinking of going below rock bottom and starting from the basement.”
Chi-Woo didn’t get what his brother was saying at all. He wished his brother would explain things to him in simple, detailed terms, but Chi-Woo decided to figure out the rest himself since he thought his brother would get angry if he asked.
“Okay, okay. I got it. I’m going now.”
“Are you going to go just like that?” Chi-Hyun then asked.
Chi-Woo stopped and looked back at his brother. “Why?”
Chi-Hyun looked at Chi-Woo like he couldn’t believe his brother. “Well, first of all, I admitted that there was something for you to feel unjust about.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t just ‘yes’ me,” Chi-Hyun said frustratedly. “Regardless of everything I said, it’s true you alone suffered unfair drawbacks due to the system I established. Doesn’t that make you think you should ask for compensation in return? Hm?” Chi-Hyun said and threw something at Chi-Woo.
Although flustered, Chi-Woo managed to catch it. “What is it?”
“Money. I put in 30,000 royal.”
“Is that a lot?”
“It’s not a small amount in our current time.”
“That’s not what I’m asking…but there was no need for you to do this,” Chi-Woo said and turned to Steam Bun, “Hey, open your mouth.” Then he stuffed the money into Steam Bun’s mouth.
“…I bet you don’t know why I gave you that money.”
“I mean, having money can’t be bad. I don’t think it’s that much, but I’ll get off your back with this.”
“Don’t make me laugh. You wouldn’t have even brought up compensation if I hadn’t brought it up first.”
“Well, it’s not like I’m dealing with anyone else. How could I ask my brother to compensate me?”
Chi-Hyun paused. After a fake cough, he replied with a softer voice, “…You should still get what is owed to you.”
“I get it. You’re telling me to get everything I possibly can.”
“Yes, and one more thing.” Chi-Hyun’s expression suddenly became serious. “I’m telling you this since you are already here but…it seems there’s another person who knows your identity besides Noel.”
“What?”
“One person…no, it could be two.”
“Who?”
“I can’t be certain yet, but I wanted to tell you beforehand so you won’t be too surprised.”
Chi-Hyun shook his head and waved a dismissive hand. He was telling Chi-Woo to go if he had nothing more to say. Chi-Woo shrugged and turned around.
* * *
When Chi-Woo returned to the inn, he didn’t see Ru Hiana or Zelit. Ru Hiana had left to talk to Ru Amuh, and Zelit followed suit saying he would come visit again.
“Where did you go?” Evelyn turned around from viewing the city through the window and asked.
“The embassy.”
“Did everything get settled?”
“Hm. How can I word this.” Chi-Woo sat at the edge of his bed and looked up at the ceiling. Then he turned to the two in the room. “I have something to ask you both. What do you think it means to settle down in this city?”
“Settle down?”
“Yes.”
“Hm. Doesn’t that mean you should secure a place well enough for yourself that you won’t be swayed by external factors?” Evelyn tilted her head with her index finger on her chin. “Doesn’t seem that hard to understand. Why are you thinking about it so hard?”
“What should I do so that I can confidently say I have settled down?”
“What should you do…?” Evelyn blinked hard and smiled. “Hm. You have a habit of overcomplicating things. You think too hard.”
“What do you mean?”
“Settling somewhere means you should secure a specific spot for yourself and stay there, right?” Evelyn sat next to Chi-Woo and continued, “Then it’s simple. What are the things we need to live in this place?”
“Well…”
“Food,” Hawa suddenly interjected.
“That’s it.” Evelyn winked. “For us to lengthen our lives, we need to continuously eat and drink.”
Chi-Woo finally realized he’d taken the wrong approach for this matter.
“That’s not all. We have to think about what to wear and where we should stay. Aspiring for better gears and shelter is what people fundamentally seek.”
It was as Noel said. There were three things his brother continuously emphasized while working as a hero: clothes, food, and residence. After hearing this, Chi-Woo got a sense of what he should do. Evelyn was right; he had lost grasp of the fundamentals by thinking too hard, and his brother was telling the truth when he said this was a very basic assignment.
“So here’s the main question. For us to have those three fundamental things in life in this city, what do we need?”
“Money,” Chi-Woo immediately responded without thinking.
“That’s right. We need money to settle in this city.”
Chi-Woo nodded. He now understood why his brother had given him a substantial sum of 30,000 royal, yet he still had questions. His brother had told him to settle down without getting out of the city, and that Chi-Woo should go back to him after bettering one of his living conditions—which he now understood as clothes, food, and shelter. But what did his brother mean by that? Chi-Woo couldn’t figure that part out by sitting still. He needed more information, and to gain it, he thought he should take action.
“Should we go outside first? You know, to look around since it’s our first day?”
“I was waiting for you to say exactly that.” Evelyn instantly got up, and Hawa followed. Chi-Woo went outside with the two.
* * *
Twilight fell upon the city. After walking around the streets all day, Chi-Woo finally stopped. He stared at one building blankly. It looked like a store with a forge attached to its side. There were several weapons and gears he hadn’t seen in the capital displayed in the front. Chi-Woo eyed one of the longswords with a sharp, gleaming edge, but turned away when he saw the ‘1,700’ on its price tag.
He had money, but he couldn’t spend it carelessly. In the end, Chi-Woo regretfully left the area. His expression looked downcast as he returned to the inn. After wandering around the city, Chi-Woo thoroughly felt a great need for money. It was as Evelyn said, money was a necessity for them to eat, sleep, and dress properly as well as to improve these factors or even maintain them. Thus, they needed to earn money somehow, which was where Chi-Woo felt stumped.
‘What the hell is Chi-Hyun thinking?’ There were ways to earn money, but the best options required him to go outside the city. Only then could he receive requests to gather ingredients or gain sizeable profits by going on expeditions. However, his brother had clearly told him that he must not stray out of the city. In other words, he would need to earn money while staying in, which would limit him to doing menial labor and part-time jobs. It would make a funny picture for a hero to serve at bars, and even if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to gain much at a time. At most, he would only be able to maintain his livelihood. It wasn’t as if he could sign himself up for experiment trials either.
‘What… What should I do…?’ After thinking for a long time, Chi-Woo decided to wait for a couple of days. According to his brother, this assignment could be completed even if he simply waited.
‘He said my starting conditions were favorable…my environment would change depending on my decisions…’ Chi-Woo didn’t know what his brother meant, but decided to believe him for the time being.
It turned out Chi-Woo didn’t even have to wait for a couple of days. That night, Chi-Woo thought his brother might actually be a prophet because of what happened.